UFOlogy Perceptions from Around the World

I've lived abroad many years in various countries as well as the US. I know very well what the general perception of the UFOlogy community is in the US. What I would like to hear from some of our members from other parts of the world is how is the UFOlogy community perceived in their country?

- Is there a strong belief in extraterrestrials, abductions, and UFOs?
- How does the general citizenry of your country look upon the UFOlogy community?
- Is UFOlogy in your country taken seriously or not?
- Do your citizens (in general) believe in UFOs?
- Do your governments openly acknowledge or deny the existence of extraterrestrials and UFOs?

Like many of you I have read UFO reports and stories from around the world over the years but I've never really read much about how seriously the subject of UFOlogy is taken in different parts of the world.

I am American but I observe the following:

Many Americans may give you funny looks like your a loon when you talk about aliens and UFO's. I don't know what that is due to. Maybe Judeo-Christian religion plays a part? Maybe media conditioning? Maybe the public gov't opinion and the subconscious tendency of citizens to bow to the will of their leaders. I think the last 2 reasons play the largest part.

I observe in other countries attitudes differ because of a) more sightings, b) the government recognizing openly (and not denying) the existence of UFO's. That includes Mexico and I think some other South American countries as well as some European countries - list below.

I met many South Americans who believe in their existence 100% and do not feel like loons due to their fellow countrymen's opinions.

List of Countries That Have Disclosed Alien and UFO Documents

a reply to: nOraKat

The number one reason people will not openly admit to supporting a fringe belief (such as with UFOs) is fear of ridicule. The US is a very young culture in the grand scheme of global cultures. I wonder if the older cultures are more adaptable or accepting to beliefs such as with UFOs?

ATS is now a closed minded community that is morphing into a political mud pitt , new members coming in from that angle act like skeptics and often destroy any dialog. Also it seems like most Americans hate Russians...

But in Russia the subject is discussed in the open without ridicule. Prime time is given and people discus with scientists. Sometimes the outcome of this is very constructive and sometimes not. I live in the Netherlands and they regard the subject as a possibility although in public it is better not to talk about it. Germans wont talk about it at all unless on some private level it seems to me.

a reply to: Outlier13

Australia

1) Yes
2) Mostly BS
3) No
4) Maybe 30%
5) Not openly, but there are plenty of good cases to suggest there is something worth studying.

So I'm a long time lurker and thankfully this thread was near the top of new topics tonight as I need some insight about what I just saw without first achieving the 5 posts necessary to create my own thread. Any feedback received will be deeply appreciated so here it goes.
I'm an avid night sky watcher. I own a 6 inch telescope and regularly enjoy my evening smoke observing the heavens. I am well aware what a satellite looks like. I have seen many meteor showers and shooting stars. I've observed the ISS on many occasions.
Tonight while outside smoking I witnessed an incredibly fast moving, what I could only describe as a satellite, but moving much too fast to be considered such. It moved with the speed of a typical shooting star/meteor, but without any of the tell tale signs of being one. There was no tracer or trail accompanying it. It did not fade out of site but simply moved so fast as to last only a few fleeting seconds. It was the size and general appearance of the satellites I see almost nightly but moving so fast! It did not meander in any way but moved in a perfectly straight line. If I had not seen so many shooting stars in my life I would have simply written this off as another amongst many.
I apologize if this isn't on topic to the current thread but being that it is in regard to UFOs I was hoping someone could shed some light on what I may have just witnessed. I wasn't willing to wait to share this or let the memory pass or become obfuscated while meeting the criterium to create a thread of my own. Deepest apologies and thanks to anyone that can help me understand our disregard what this fast moving object could be.

hear people talk more about ghosts than about u.f.o's and aliens here in asia .
Only had u.f.o topic come up twice in the past 15 years talking to people as opposed to ghosts on almost daily basis .

In Eastern Europe you can find the occasional paranormal and UFO "documentaries" interviews and such on the TV and magazines, but stuff like this is generally considered "yellow press" and "joke stories" made for young kids and old ladies... Nothing more serious than the series "Married with children" let's say. So it's still in the fantasy sci-fi genre. And I think it should stay there...

a reply to: Outlier13

I'm Dutch, like Frenchfries. Like he said: the Dutch are more or less neutral w/regard to the UFO phenomenon.

- Is there a strong belief in extraterrestrials, abductions, and UFOs?

Most Dutch folks I know are aware of the phenomenon and are mildy sceptical. Most believe that extraterrestrial life exists, but not that "little green men" visit us. Dutch scientists are mostly highly sceptical of the phenomenon up to the point they bluntly refuse to discuss it.

- How does the general citizenry of your country look upon the UFOlogy community?

If we still HAD a real UFOlogy community.. we don't, really. The Dutch Bureau for investigation of UFO's (NOBOVO) closed shop in 1972. There is a website that can be used to report UFO sightings: www.ufomeldpunt.nl... - established in 2011. They report roughly 70 sightings each month, but that includes a lot of stuff like drones, flares, balloons etc. There is, to the best of my knowledge, no scientific approach used to try to resolve the sightings.

- Is UFOlogy in your country taken seriously or not?

Yes, by the majority of the population.

- Do your citizens (in general) believe in UFOs?

It's not seen as "a belief", it's seen as reality: people see things flying around they can't explain. Dutch are no-nonense folks: if they see something that flies around they don't assume aliens, but some earthly cause. If the darned thing lands and some folks step out, they may change their opinon, but with the possible exception of the (in)famous Vandenaerde case, that rarely happens. So, in general the Dutch believe that yes, stuff flies around that we don't understand, but also that there is a "normal", earthly explanation for it.

- Do your governments openly acknowledge or deny the existence of extraterrestrials and UFOs?

No, our government does neither acknowledge nor deny the existence of extraterrestrials and UFOs.

Well according to studies most people believe in ufo's and that governments are covering them up. And many believe they're here, walking and living amongst us.

And considering that people have experiences with them and don't like being silenced, its not going to quietly go away.

a reply to: Outlier13

I really think our (covert) leaders affect the public perceptions of it. They establish the culture through media.

- Is there a strong belief in extraterrestrials, abductions, and UFOs?

According to a survey a couple of years ago more people believd aliens exist (somewhere) than believed in God hee in the UK. Although that doesn't mean they believe they are coming here in spaceships.

- How does the general citizenry of your country look upon the UFOlogy community?

The UFO community in the UK is very small, less commercialized than in the United States (which I'll come back to) and rather more objective in general. The majority of the population probably rarely think about it.

Is UFOlogy in your country taken seriously or not?

There is still a snicker factor sometimes prevalent. But it depends on the context. Sometimes the media treat stories seriously. Sometimes they don't.

- Do your citizens (in general) believe in UFOs?

Well in the strictest sense UFOs exist whenever anyone can't identify something in the sky. The general attitude seems to be one of 'mystery' rather than outright dismissal these days.

- Do your governments openly acknowledge or deny the existence of extraterrestrials and UFOs?

The UK government offers no opinion on the existence or otherwise of extra-terrestrial life. It is more concerned with whether any UFO report presents a potential threat to the UK. All the UFO files (allegedly) were released some years ago (2010). Even though it has since been proven that there are a batch of documents still awaiting release related to defence policy on UFOs and the Rendlesham case. They have still not been released to date. Questions in the House of Lords have been asked.




That all said I think there is a general problem with how Ufology has morphed into an entertainment industry especially in the United States. This of course spills over into the UK because of our shared language. There are some good TV and radio shows and some appalling bad ones. Without naming names some in the UFO field seem to start off with genuine intentions but then hit a brick wall. Rather than dismissing cases that have long been debunked they are perpetuated and stories spun out for "UFOtainment". There is nothing wrong with people making money off of TV, radio, books, conferences and other mediums. But ufology cannot police itself very well. It's main success has been debunking the Roswell slides in recent years and science will probably get there first and provide us with hard proof for the existence of ET.

A Portuguese point of view.

originally posted by: Outlier13
- Is there a strong belief in extraterrestrials, abductions, and UFOs?

UFOs, somewhat, extraterrestrials and abductions, no.

- How does the general citizenry of your country look upon the UFOlogy community?

They do not even know it exists.

- Is UFOlogy in your country taken seriously or not?

See above.

- Do your citizens (in general) believe in UFOs?

I think mostly do, as they are things that can be seen. Personally, I knew two people that saw something they couldn't explain, a big dark object blocking the stars. Talking about things we do not understand is natural for human beings.

- Do your governments openly acknowledge or deny the existence of extraterrestrials and UFOs?

As far as I know, it ignores it.

Some years ago I had access to a database with reports of air force accidents, and it didn't have any reference to UFOs.

a reply to: ForteanOrg

Great reply. Thank you. I lived near Maastricht for sometime and found the Dutch to be very matter of fact. Which I appreciated.

Thanks again for the deeper insight.

a reply to: ArMaP

Thanks for the insight. I find it very interesting to see the dramatic differences in UFOlogy perception from country to country.

a reply to: mirageman

Thank you very much for the deeper insight. The House of Lords link was very interesting as well. Seems they essentially dismissed that one rather quickly. Great points on the shared commonalities between our cultures regarding UFOlogy.

I really wish there were not a time limit on editing the original post. After reading through some of the replies here and seeing dramatic differences between different cultures perception of UFOlogy it dawned on me that I should have included in my OP the following:

The size and following of the UFOlogy community in the United States can be directly attributed to Roswell. The most widely publicized and hotly debated topic and cause for the beginnings of the UFOlogy community worldwide. Had Roswell occurred in any other country I wonder if UFOology would be as prevalent as it is today?

originally posted by: Outlier13

.................The size and following of the UFOlogy community in the United States can be directly attributed to Roswell. The most widely publicized and hotly debated topic and cause for the beginnings of the UFOlogy community worldwide. Had Roswell occurred in any other country I wonder if UFOology would be as prevalent as it is today?

Perhaps that has been true since the early 1980s. But before that Roswell was a footnote in ufology and dismissed as an embarrassing military press release about a weather balloon. There was still a very large UFO community in the USA prior to 1980.

However maybe you should start a new thread "What if Roswell occurred in another country not the USA?". You'd probably get some interesting answers.

originally posted by: Outlier13
The size and following of the UFOlogy community in the United States can be directly attributed to Roswell.

I think it can be attributed more to people looking for easy money.

originally posted by: ArMaP

originally posted by: Outlier13
The size and following of the UFOlogy community in the United States can be directly attributed to Roswell.

I think it can be attributed more to people looking for easy money.

Yes, but only after Roswell occurred. I don't think anyone looking for easy money came in before Roswell because there was no one single major event that put UFOlogy on the map in the US. Once Roswell occurred then many snake oil salesmen popped up.